Dancing Dust
	Poems by Mollie Caird (1922-2000)
	Requiem for Merton field
Home Alphabetic index of poems Thematic index of poems Biography Gallery Contact and links	Now the green places shrivel one by one And towered technicians nibble at the sun. My kitchen window looks on Merton field; Hands in sink and eyes across the green, I watched the shifting pageant: Michaelmas Brought the white aitches of rugger posts To oust the shaven wicket, white-washed screen. Oh, that long plumy line of changing trees, Cedar and sequined holly, crimson may, Deep beech that stripped in winter to reveal Tree behind tree uphill all the way To Marston and beyond, where Beckley mast Threaded its rubies on the dusky night! But now the snouted bulldozers are out, Tusking the turf with undisputed might. The kestrel used to hover here, but soon Will rise a concrete sky-intruder where Stern scientists will plot their graphs to prove Why our wild falcons are become so rare. Now the green places shrivel one by one And towered technicians nibble at the sun. The University's Tinbergen Building (Department of Zoology) was built on part of Merton College playing field. Oxford Times, 25 November 1966